


Wrong Words, But Right

by NyomiOwahama



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 20:40:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11767953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyomiOwahama/pseuds/NyomiOwahama
Summary: Varric has been oddly quiet since the red lyrium incident with Bianca Davri. Cassandra wants to help, but words aren't her specialty. That won't keep her from trying though.Based on a Tumblr prompt, "You look really tired"





	Wrong Words, But Right

It was beyond dark when Cassandra entered Skyhold’s keep. She had been holed up in the armory since dinner, toiling over the Seekers’ story until the candle had burnt itself down, pieces of crumpled paper scattered around her. Bull had ducked his head in during his late night rounds, reminding her of the hour, and had waited calmly by the door until she left. Now, the torches burned low and the usually crowded main hall was empty, or nearly empty.

She was surprised to find Varric, curled up in his arm chair by the fire. He didn’t appear to have noticed her entrance, staring at the flames. She assumed he was writing, and with that thought, intended to continue to her room. Only Varric wasn’t moving, and his glasses and quill lay on the table, untouched. That was unusual. 

Cassandra hesitated, hovering in her spot before taking a step forward. “Varric?” She asked, her voice coming out harsher than intended. He started, head jerking toward her. Cassandra ignored it, stepping closer to the fire, as if to warm herself by it, although the South’s cold hardly bothered her anymore.

Varric quickly recovered. He rubbed his eyes, and a mask of a smile slipped into place. “What can I do for you, Seeker?” He sounded exhausted, as though something were eating him inside.

Cassandra shifted on her feet, suddenly self-conscious. “Ah, nothing, I was merely surprised to see you awake at this hour.”

“Is it that late already?”

“It is.”

They fell into an uncomfortable silence, and Cassandra nearly bid him goodnight and left, but he was staring at the fire again, his smile gone. “You look really tired, Varric,” she ventured, “You should get some rest. I could walk you back to you room-”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Varric said simply, cutting her off. 

Cassandra frowned, Varric’s lack of humor concerning. The two had gotten back from the Hinterlands recently. Varric had been itching to go, to cut off Corypheus’s red lyrium supply and help Bianca Davri, his friend and based on everything Cassandra knew, his lover. Of course, then it turned out she was responsible for it all, and the Inquisitor had yelled at her, and after that Varric had been oddly quiet. Cassandra had been unsure what to say during the events, and she still found herself without the right words. However, leaving him alone was out of the question, especially when it was so obvious he needed company.

She took a deep breath and sat down beside the dwarf. “Would you like to tell me about it?”

“What, looking for another interrogation?” Varric nearly snarled, glaring at her.

Cassandra met his gaze until he looked away, far too used to his needling to let his anger get to her. It merely told her what she already knew, that something was bothering the dwarf. “I am merely offering…as a friend,” she said, “But I could wake Thera if you’d rather, or I could go find Bull, I’m sure he’d be willing to listen.” Cassandra made to stand up, but Varric’s hand caught her arm before she could. She stared at it, surprised, for a moment, before looking at Varric, whose eyes showed a vulnerability she’d rarely seen.

“No,” Varric said quietly, letting go and pulling his hand back into his lap. 

Cassandra sat back down and chewed her lower lip. After a moment, she spoke, “I cannot promise I will have the right words…you know that I am no good with them, but I can at least listen.”

Varric took in a shaky breath, his whole body trembling. “Alright,” he murmured. 

Cassandra waited for Varric to start, but he merely stared into the fire. She noticed the bags beneath his eyes, and how much deeper the lines on his face seemed to run. He had seen him this lost only once, when the Champion hadn’t come back out of the Fade. She had ruined things then. She hoped to do better now. “Does this…” She trailed off, but quickly found her courage, “Does this have anything to do with Bianca?”

Varric’s breath hitched as Cassandra spoke the woman’s name. After a moment, he scowled, “I can’t believe she did this. After everything I warned her about-”

“You couldn’t have known that she would ignore your warnings,” Cassandra pointed out, interrupting him before she’d had the conscious thought to.

“But I should have,” Varric answered, hands balling into fists, “Bianca has never listened. She always does whatever she wants, especially the things she isn’t supposed to. Making impossible pieces of machinery, ignoring the Merchant’s guild,” he gritted his teeth as he went on, “Me.” That admission seemed to take the energy from him for a moment. 

His anger quickly returned, “The red lyrium shit is just the most recent.” He took in a sharp breath, “And then she has the gall to tell me that she was trying to help. Oh yeah, make it about my brother, like it was anything more than her own self-interest.”

“Maybe she did intend to use what she found to help you,” Cassandra said.

“Oh, I’m sure that’s exactly what she told herself, whatever it took to justify doing what she wanted,” Varric said, scowl deepening, “Never mind the fact that Bartrand’s never going to get better, and she knows that because I told her as much.”

Varric sighed, “And what’s worse is that was one of Corypheus’s main sources of red lyrium. If I’d just kept it to myself, kept her out of it, he never would have found it.” He made a frustrated sound, “Maker’s balls, all of this shit is my fault.”

“Now that is ridiculous,” Cassandra said, crossing her arms and ignoring the way Varric glared at her. “This is all Corypheus’s doing. He would have found red lyrium whether or not you had told Bianca about the thaig. We’ve seen it covering nearly every piece of land we cross.”

“But you are here, fighting against what he has done, fighting for what is right-” Cassandra said firmly.

“Only because you dragged me here, Seeker. Otherwise I’d be in Kirkwall, hiding from this whole mess,” Varric argued.

“Even had I not dragged you here, no doubt you would be rebuilding the city, helping its people. We have not known each other long, but since I met you, you have never hid. Not unless you were trying to protect someone else, someone you cared about.”

Varric slumped over, head in his hands, looking defeated. Cassandra nearly swore at herself. She had not intended to bring up the Champion. She wanted to bring Varric comfort, not more distress. She hesitantly reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder. 

“What I mean to say is that you are doing valuable work here,” Cassandra told him, “You’ve been helping Thera find and get rid of the red lyrium, you helped everyone get to safety when Haven was attacked, and you’ve been feeding information from your spy network to Leliana. Even your stories bring the soldiers more joy than a good night’s rest.” She swallowed, adding softly, “And they bring me quite a bit too.” 

She took another deep breath, “I do not wish you to feel that a simple mistake detracts from all the good you’ve done here.”

Varric wiped his face on his sleeve, and looked over at her, but didn’t pull away from Cassandra’s hand. “That so, Seeker?” He smiled for a moment, and his voice turned teasing, “You like my stories that much?”

Cassandra relaxed a bit at the return of his humor. “I was under the impression you were already aware, given that Thera is apparently incapable of keeping a secret.”

Varric chuckled, “I don’t know. You stabbed one of my books with a knife, so I assumed you had no interest in reading any of them.”

Cassandra made her signature disgusted noise as Varric continued to not let her live down one of her interrogation techniques. She opened her mouth to say something to that extent, but found Varric’s smile gone, gaze lost in the fire again.

“It is not easy,” she began instead, “To let go of people whom you once trusted, especially those you care about,” She thought back to leaving the Seekers, the only true family she’d had since her brother passed, and to Daniel, dying at her hand as a demon tried to claw its way out of him, all on Lord Seeker Lucius’s orders. “Or to even get over the loss of that trust. But, you have many friends, both around you and far away. Hopefully they can help.”

Cassandra gave Varric’s shoulder a squeeze and stood up, “I hope you can get some rest, Varric…and that you feel better.”

Varric gave a slight nod in her direction, indicating that he’d heard her. Cassandra sighed as she walked away, feeling that she’d once again failed to help him when he’d needed it.

Then, Varric called, “Hey Seeker,” drawing her attention back to him as she walked under the stone archway, heading toward her room. As their eyes met, she saw a smile play on his face, “Thanks.”

She answered with her own smile, “Any time, Varric.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm a huge Cassarric fan and have been meaning to write something involving them for awhile now. I think their relationship develops a lot over the course of the game, and I see this as one such moment. I may write more, more than likely the scene I mention about Cassandra trying to comfort Varric about losing Hawke, but we'll see. Also I had no one to beta this, so sorry about any typos. Hope you enjoy!


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